The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a Christian restorationist church that was founded by Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York on 6 April 1830. The church is the largest denomination of the Mormon movement, having over 70,000 missionaries and a membership of nearly 16,000,000 people, and it is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Its members, the Mormons, view faith in Jesus and his atonement as fundamental principles of their religion.

LDS theology includes salvation only through Jesus, has an open canon of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and the Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, with the majority of its canon constituting revelation received by Joseph Smith and recorded by his scribes. The LDS Church believes that Smith discovered lost parts of the Bible and the words of ancient prophets, and Mormons believe that the church president is a modern-day prophet, seer, and revelator who receives Jesus' will. Male members above the age of twelve can become ordained priests, while women are involved in auxiliary organizations. The church has been criticized for its promotion of polygamy, Smith and the Mormon leadership's self-enrichment with the short-lived Kirtland Safety Society in 1837 (which caused many bankrupted Mormons to leave the church), the Mormons' support for racism, sexism, and homophobia, the possible fradulence or delusional state of Smith, the Mormons' military and political power during the mid-19th century, the Mormons' policy of excluding African-American men from the priesthood, and vicarious baptisms of the dead for Jewish Holocaust victims.